Several studies have investigated the neuropsychological functioning of patients with anorexia nervosa restrictive type (AN-r), but results are conflicting. Here we compared the neuropsychological profile of 23 female children and adolescents with AN-r and of 46 typical controls (aged 9-16 years) using the second edition of the NEPSY (a Developmental Neuropsychology Assessment) neuropsychological battery. AN-r patients presented subtle cognitive flexibility impairments in audiomotor responses (p = .033). Conversely, superior performance in verbal fluency (p = .024) and memory (p = .034) was observed only in AN-r patients with an associated unipolar mood disorder. This profile of marginally impaired and enhanced performance was independent from illness duration and starvation degree, suggesting that it may preexist and represent a vulnerability factor for the disease onset.

Neuropsychological functioning in children and adolescents with restrictive-type anorexia nervosa: An in-depth investigation with NEPSY-II.

BALOTTIN, UMBERTO;CARIGI, TIZIANA;
2013-01-01

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the neuropsychological functioning of patients with anorexia nervosa restrictive type (AN-r), but results are conflicting. Here we compared the neuropsychological profile of 23 female children and adolescents with AN-r and of 46 typical controls (aged 9-16 years) using the second edition of the NEPSY (a Developmental Neuropsychology Assessment) neuropsychological battery. AN-r patients presented subtle cognitive flexibility impairments in audiomotor responses (p = .033). Conversely, superior performance in verbal fluency (p = .024) and memory (p = .034) was observed only in AN-r patients with an associated unipolar mood disorder. This profile of marginally impaired and enhanced performance was independent from illness duration and starvation degree, suggesting that it may preexist and represent a vulnerability factor for the disease onset.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11571/647424
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 12
  • Scopus 38
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 38
social impact